


Carry the Torch

by Fictionalogy



Category: The Breakfast Club (1985)
Genre: Detention, Getting to Know Each Other, Monday After Detention (Breakfast Club), Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27710633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fictionalogy/pseuds/Fictionalogy
Summary: Nothing lasts forever, especially high school. Three years have passed since the day five very different sophomores were given detention together, and formed lifelong friendships. But though the princess, the athlete, the brain, the criminal, and the basket case are all gone now, the Breakfast Club lives on.
Relationships: Andrew Clark/Allison Reynolds, Brian Johnson/Original Female Character(s), John Bender/Claire Standish
Kudos: 7





	1. The End of an Age

**Author's Note:**

> Previously uploaded on FFN as Changing of the Guard  
> This is my first time uploading on AO3, so I'm still learning

"Boy, is Vernon gonna be pissed." Allison commented.

"Eh, who cares?" John smirked as he finished the final touches on his masterpiece. He smacks Brian's leg and points at his work. "Whaddya think?"

"Well, it's not like he's gonna know to look here, anyways." Brian offered as he admired John's handiwork. On the underside of one of the library desks was carved the name of their little group, the Breakfast Club, as well as another message. Perhaps it would go unnoticed until the school eventually got rid of the desks in however many years, but it was a surprisingly thoughtful legacy that the criminal was leaving behind. "You know, this is pretty good. You ever thought of being a writer?"

"Nah, I leave that to the dweebs like you. You can actually hold your tempers." John scoffed. "Imagine if I wrote our essay that first Saturday. I would've been telling Vernon to fuck off every other sentence."

"Probably wouldn't have made a difference. We all got dragged back the week after anyway for pulling that stunt."

"I'm surprised you're okay with us doing this, Brian." Claire looked at the nerd, who shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna be here forever." Brian paused, realizing the implication of that statement. "Can you guys believe we'll be graduating?"

"Nah." John laughed. "I always thought I'd be kicked out first."

"Yeah well, I think Vernon liked having you around to give detentions to." Andrew spoke up.

John Bender didn't answer. No one else did either. They were all thinking the same thing.

Two years ago, the five of them had been brought together by coincidence, put into detention on the same Saturday. John knew better than most that that day had been unusual. In all the detentions before or since, he'd never seen the connection that had been established between him and the four people he now called his best friends. But soon, all that was going to end.

Brian was going to Harvard in the fall, like everyone knew he would. Andrew was also going to college, in California on a wrestling scholarship. Allison would be attending an art school in downtown Chicago. Claire was headed off to Columbia, her parents' alma mater. Alone out of the five of them, John was not continuing his education, instead taking on a full time shift at his current workplace in an autoshop.

"I don't want this to end." The words escaped John's lips, unbidden.

"What, the endless Saturday detentions?" Andrew snorted. "If I never saw the inside of this library again, I'd die a happy man."

"Same here." Brian agreed. "I had to give up valedictorian because of all the disciplinary marks on my record."

"And yet Harvard still accepted you." Claire pointed out.

"And Davis would probably still be gunning for your ass if you beat her." John snickered. "Yo pipsqueak, if you feel like killing yourself again, just let me know. I'll get jockstrap and we'll come knock some sense into you."

Once upon a time, Brian might have been frightened, but now he just smiled. "Hey now, it's the guys at Cornell who toss themselves off bridges."

"I would too, if my school were named after a vegetable." Allison muttered absentmindedly, intent on her own work.

"You know, corn is actually a vegetable, grain, and a fruit?"

"Shut up, Brian." The others all said automatically to no avail, as the smallest member of the Breakfast Club began to lecture them about the plant and the taxonomical difficulties of classifying vegetables and fruits. As he descended into full drone mode, they collectively rolled their eyes and turned away, knowing there was no stopping him once he had started. Even threats of physical violence from Andrew and John didn't faze him anymore.

"What're you working on?" Andrew asked Allison, craning his head to look at her sketchpad.

"You'll see." Allison winked and pulled the paper away from his prying eyes.

"See what?" Claire sat down next to Allison. "C'mon, let me see."

"I'm almost done, relax." Allison smacked Claire's hands away, making a few last adjustments to her sketch. "There." Triumphantly, the basket case revealed her finest work yet.

"Allison." Claire breathed. "It's beautiful."

"Not bad." John whistled appreciatively.

Brian stopped talking as he noticed the artwork, his rant about corn forgotten.

Andrew grinned and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "You've outdone yourself, Ally."

"Thanks you guys." Allison blushed as she signed the paper. It had taken her almost the entire afternoon, but she'd manage to recreate the five of them as they were the first day they'd met, sitting together in the library of Shermer High.

After a long moment, Brian finally spoke. "You know guys, I don't believe this is the end. We'll still be friends after this."

"Yeah." Andrew's voice went a little higher than normal, and he cleared his throat. "Definitely."

"Aw, don't tell me you're crying, jockstrap." John teased.

"Shut it, Bender." Andrew snapped, but there was no malice in his words. They were long past that.

"Alright!" The library doors opened with a loud bang, and Vice Principal Vernon strode in like a raging bull, snorting and grunting and all. Perhaps it was the thought of finally seeing the last of the infamous Breakfast Club, but his ever-present scowl was relaxed for once. "You're free to go. And don't get yourselves into trouble before graduation. I don't ever want to see any of you again!"

"Love you too, Dick." John blew the older man a kiss as the five seniors walked out the doors to a sunny afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking. What's the author thinking, getting rid of the characters people care about in the very first chapter? Don't worry, they'll be back, one way or another.


	2. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes have served their last detention, but life at Shermer goes on...

_**September 27, 1985** _

Fall had come early this year, Mary Davis noted. Leaves of red, yellow, and brown were falling from the trees. Not that it was a very pretty sight on this particularly gray Saturday morning. It had rained the night before, and the dark clouds still hung in the sky, making the atmosphere seem bleak and dreary despite the brightly colored leaves. Or perhaps that was just Mary's bad mood.

The cool autumn wind kicked up a few leaves into Mary's path as she trudged along the sidewalk. She glared at the forbidding concrete building just ahead of her through bleary eyes. Having to wake up at six thirty to walk to school had been a struggle, but she didn't know what would happen if she was late to detention, and didn't want to chance getting another one.

However, it didn't seem like anyone else was here yet. Checking her watch, Mary realized that she was in fact early by five minutes. The doors of the school were unlocked though, and she went to the main office to see if anyone was there. Sadly, there was not, and Mary stood at the empty front desk, at a loss for what to do.

"You here for Saturday detention?" A gruff voice just behind Mary made her jump. She turned to see one of the school janitors standing there with a mop in his hand. He was extremely average looking, with short black hair and slight stubble.

"Oh... yes, that is why I'm here." Mary mumbled. She felt very awkward, making conversation with one of the people who cleaned up the school after the students. Not even the quiet ones like her did that.

"It's in the library." The janitor pointed down the hallway.

"Thanks mister." Mary began walking in the direction where the man had pointed.

"No need to call me that; it makes me feel old." The janitor grinned. "My name's Carl."

"Thank you, Carl." Mary squeaked out before scampering off to the library, her heart thumping almost painfully. It was too early in the morning for conversation.

* * *

Thomas wished the leather of the car seat would just swallow him up right then and there. Fortunately, his mother seemed to be almost done talking. At least it wasn't his father dropping him off at school this morning. It wouldn't have been a lecture so much as an eardrum beating.

"- and don't mind your father too much, he just wants you to do well. A detention here and there never hurt anyone." Mrs. Ford told her son. "Now, what time am I supposed to pick you up?"

"Uh, four o'clock, I think." Sensing an opening, Thomas grabbed his lunch bag and practically leapt out of the car. "Thanks, Mom." He said almost as an afterthought. As his mother drove off, Thomas Ford walked slowly up the front steps of Shermer High School, dreading the long day ahead of him.

As he reached the top of the stairs however, Thomas heard the rustling of leaves and turned around to see a boy with messy black hair parking his bicycle and chaining it to the fence in front of the school. Despite the gray skies, the guy was wearing a pair of silver aviator sunglasses. Thomas recognized him from several of his classes, though he was sure the guy sat several rows behind him. His name was something like Jason or James Kent.

More out of politeness than anything, Thomas nodded to James (he was quite sure it was James, now that he thought about it), and the other boy nodded back. The two of them were by no means friends, but they entered the school together. The pair walked through the eerily silent hallways.

"You here for detention too?" Thomas asked, breaking the silence.

"Not like there's any other reason to be here on a Saturday." James replied. "You know where it is?"

"In the library." Thomas replied. He'd had to ask a variety of school staff before he finally found someone who knew where Saturday detention was held (it was a janitor), which made him wonder whether the school really cared or not if students showed up for it.

The two boys made their way to the school's library. A girl with medium-length blond hair was sitting in the furthest desk back, just under the weirdly abstract statue in the center of the library. Her head was down and she looked like she was dozing off. Thomas thought she looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place a name to her face. Without saying a word, Thomas took the desk in front of her, while James sat across the aisle in the desk next to his. The three students watched the clock, which read six thirty-seven for some reason.


End file.
